Human behavior

"The enduring assumption that human behaviour is governed by innate morality and reason is at odds with the persistence of human deprivation, inequality, injustice, misery, brutality and conflict."

"Policies should take account of the emotional dimensions of human behaviour rather than assuming rational action."

"BEHAVIOR, n. Conduct, as determined, not by principle, but by breeding."

"There's definitely, definitely, definitely, no logic to human behaviour . . . There's no map And a compass Wouldn't help at all"

"Man can influence his life through his own conduct, and that in this process conscious thinking and wanting can play a part. ... Those who are striving to improve the lot of man may ground their hopes."

"Oh, I could tell you, but you're far too clever to listen. That said, we're never too old to be students of our own behaviors, Jean-Luc."

"Game theory is about how people cooperate as much as how they compete... Game theory is about the emergence, transformation, diffusion and stabilization of forms of behavior."

"Institutions are human behavior, and they are, therefore, to be explained by the characteristics of that behavior."

"Human behavior is predictable, but, as in physical science, accurate prediction hinges on the correctness of underlying theoretical assumptions."

"I discovered long ago that, if you write a book about cats or dogs, everybody loves you, but if you dare to write a book about human beings, all hell breaks loose. It is impossible to write an uncensored, honest book about human behaviour without offending at least part of your audience. If you feel you have a basic truth to tell, then you must tell it and be prepared to suffer the inevitable criticisms."

"I am profoundly skeptical about our abilities to predict the future in general, and human behavior in particular."

"Copyright law as it is, it's just completely out of touch with human behaviour."

"Mankind will possess incalculable advantages and extraordinary control over human behavior when the scientific investigator will be able to subject his fellow men to the same external analysis he would employ for any natural object, and when the human mind will contemplate itself not from within but from without."

"The study of human nature must have profound implications for the study of history, sociology, psychology, anthropology, and politics. Each of those disciplines is an attempt to understand human behaviour, and if the underlying universals of human behaviour are product of evolution, then it is vitally important to understand what the evolutionary pressures were."

"Since 1978, when a pail of water was dumped over my Harvard friend E. O. Wilson for saying that genes influence human behaviour, the assault against human behavioural genetics by wishful thinking has remained vigorous. But irrationality must soon recede. It will soon be possible to read individual genetic messages at costs which will not bankrupt our health systems. In so doing, I hope we see whether changes in DNA sequence, not environmental influences, result in behaviour differences. Finally, we should be able to establish the relative importance of nature as opposed to nurture."